As with all effective submissions — pleadings, motions, legal memorandums and, alas, Federal Disability Retirement applications — it should never be approached in a mechanical, one-to-one ratio-like, mathematical manner. Of course it should contain the technical terms, the medical terms, and the legal arguments. However, disability retirement under FERS & CSRS — especially the Applicant’s Statement of disability and any legal arguments — should not be matter of matching up a one-to-one correspondence between the medical condition and the particular essential elements which it prevents or impacts. Certainly, the effect and the conclusion should contain that conceptual correspondence; however, as all good writing contains a technical side, it is also important to weave the story of the human condition and see the writing as an “art” form.
The impact of the human story is important in convincing and persuading the OPM representative to not only understand the medical condition, but to get a sense of empathy for what the applicant is going through. It is a delicate balance to achieve; yes, the hard legal arguments should be made in order to “force” OPM to see that, legally, they are obligated to approve a disability retirement application; at the same time, if you can touch the empathetic nature of the OPM representative, so much the better.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS | Tagged: addressing technical issues in the OPM application, applicant's statement of disability, Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS, Applicant's Statement of Disability for FERS, approving a federal disability retirement application, disability retirement for federal law enforcement agents, disability retirement under CSRS, disability retirement under FERS, essential elements of jobs, federal employment disability retirement, federal law enforcement disability retirement, federal soup postal, fers disability mistakes, fers disability retirement guide, giving the OPM one more reason to approve the application, how to get fed disability retirement, legal & foundational argument, legal arguments in the federal disability application, legal requirements of the medical narrative report, medical compensation for federal and postal workers, medical condition(s), medical restrictions assessment form, Nexus between Medical Condition and Essential Elements, objective and subjective medical evidence, OPM decision making is not 100% rational or objective, OPM disability application tips and strategies, OPM lawyer, OPM medical terms, OPM Specialist, OWCP benefits for federal workers, postal service medical retirement, PostalEase postal service disability retirement, retirement disability form opm, rural carrier on job injury, SF 3112A, story of human tragedy, the fine balance between rational and emotional factors, the human side of a disability story, the human story behind the federal disability application, the impact of a human story, understanding the decision-making process, using precedents in legal arguments, usps work injury benefits, writing statement of disability as an art form | Leave a comment »